Why don’t fans support players who want more?

Posted by Mike Florio on June 17, 2018, 12:47 PM EDT

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Plenty of players skipped mandatory minicamps this year in an effort to get more money. And plenty of fans don’t like it.

Why, given all that is now known about the risks of a career in professional football, do fans continue to complain when a player hopes to receive greater compensation for the risks he assumes and the sacrifices he makes? When the billionaire owners make shrewd business moves, they receive the perfunctory slow-clap from admiring fans. When players (many of whom aren’t millionaires in the sense that they don’t have a net worth of more than $1 million — and they definitely don’t have liquid assets to that degree) try to use the system to their advantage, they’re described as selfish, not team-oriented, and worried about the wrong things.

Hyperbolic curmudgeon Bill Polian recently ranted on ESPN’s NFL Live about the disingenuous notion that players have an obligation to honor their contracts. That’s easy for folks on the league’s side of the ledger to say, since teams can rip up the contracts whenever they want. Players can’t just walk away, so at times they must take advantage of the tools available to them under the Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Despite Polian’s position that players have no real alternatives, they do. The system allows them to not show up, as long as they’re willing to risk incurring the associated fines. For mandatory minicamp, the potential price is $84,435. For training camp, it’s $40,000 per day.

And if the players choose to push it even farther, they can give up game checks and show up as late as Week 10, getting credit for the contract year and moving another step closer to free agency.

The notion that a player who consciously takes advantage of these options is “violating his contract” ignores the broader contract that dictates the team-player relationship. The overriding document is the CBA, and the CBA allows players to withhold services (at a price), if they choose to do so.

Even then, fans still routinely side with the billionaires over the mostly-not-millionaires. It likely happens for a variety of reasons.

First, fans just want the players to play. During a holdout, it’s the player who is the one directly responsible for keeping the player from playing. So the fans pressure the player to “honor his contract,” not the team to give him a new one.

Second, the fans don’t care about the massive wealth differential between owners and players. From the perspective of the fans, they’re all rich. However, the owners are dramatically richer, earning billions collectively every year while also holding 100 percent of the equity in the teams. And the owners can do it indefinitely. The players have a limited window to make what they can before the exit the game with bodies and brains that may eventually betray them.

Third, it’s would be foolish to not consider the racial component, especially against the backdrop of the ongoing anthem debate. Some (many) white fans surely resent (consciously or not) the fact that African-American men parlay God-given physical skills into the kind of money and fame that the average white person never will enjoy, no matter how hard he or she works. So when African-American players try to get more money that some (many) white fans think they don’t really deserve, those fans get even more upset, reasoning that the players who already have more than they should should simply be happy with what they’re getting.

Regardless of the reason(s), fans are playing right into the hands of the billionaires, making it even harder for players who have one or two chances in their football lifetimes to maximize their earnings. Meanwhile, the billionaires continue to sit back and watch the money roll in, year after year, decade after decade, generation after generation, without ever taking a single physical risk.

That will continue even if fans change their perspective, but it will at least be a little harder for the billionaires to consistently get their way if fans are willing to rise up and demand that the revenue generated by the sport be more fairly distributed to those who make the sport what it is.

242 responses to “Why don’t fans support players who want more?”

Hahah, yep, knew that race card was going to get thrown in there. How about the fact that players get paid millions because they are good at a gamel, and billionaires are rich because 90% of them actually worked for their wealth. Last I checked, owing a multi billion dollar business requires a little more time and effort than playing football for ~18 weeks out of the year. You know who I’ll never side with though? The media. Not ever.

Blah blah blah. I doubt that many of us out here begrudge the guys at the end of the bench trying to leverage their way up. It’s the guy making millions per year that we have no sympathy for, and if you don’t want the system set up the way it is, don’t let dopes negotiate for you.

All this sociology mumbo-jumbo neglects the obvious point. Fans are not fans of individual players, but of their particular TEAMS. They want their team to do well. If a player successfully forces a team to change the contract and pay him a substantial amount more, in a salary cap world that’s resources that aren’t available to plug gaps elsewhere. It makes the team less likely to win.

Now I don’t think many fans want players treated and paid like serfs, whether they be white or black. But even the most exploited of these poor proles still make an excellent salary — albeit one that won’t last for all that long. So it’s hard to get someone on a working man’s salary concerned because a player — who may not even be coming off a good year — thinks $15 million is fairer for him than than the $9 million he signed for. If they want to keep up with the market, sign one year deals, and forego the big bonus that is the percentage of that.

However, the owners are dramatically richer, earning billions collectively every year while also holding 100 percent of the equity in the teams. And the owners can do it indefinitely. The players have a limited window to make what they can before the exit the game with bodies and brains that may eventually betray them.
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With this line of thinking, hypothetically then everyone
who works for Profootballtalk should make almost as much as you before they exit? I bet not……

Because the common man works 40-80 hours a week and makes a fraction of these players, I make six figures a year work a ton of overtime and its still miniscule compared to even what a bench player makes

This has nothing to do with race and everything to do with the fact that most people are fans of a team, not fans of a player. It’s irresponsible to suggest otherwise.

I want to watch the Steelers win the Super Bowl; I don’t care if Ben Roethlisberger wins it. Actually, I want them to win in spite of how unlikable I find him and a few of his teammates. I’m from Pittsburgh, I like my city, and I was a Steelers fan before Ben/Brown/Bell and I will be one after they’re gone.

I don’t care how much any of them get paid so long as there is enough money around to construct a winning roster. It’s hard to support a player sucks up too much cap space relative to their contribution or refuses to practice to help make the team better.

Fans want their teams to win, period. Shrewd moves help that, holdouts don’t. Only socialists care about disparity. And bringing race into it is ridiculous. Most fans see the risk and want players to get paid, just not at the expense of winning.

The first reason you stated is the one and only reason fans believe the way they do. Football fans want to see their favorite football players on the field, period.

The other reasons you cite are nothing more than politics and social justice nonsense. Class warfare, racism, etc. As has been made abundantly clear over the last couple years, football fans don’t watch football for politics and social justice. Nobody cares if the player holding out is black or white, and they’re not thinking about some fabricated power struggle between owners and players. They’re thinking about seeing their favorite players on the television screen playing football on Sundays.

Its a real easy answer: it’s a game. They are getting paid to play a game that they grew up playing as kids for nothing. Thats good on them for not having a real job and making money. But all in all, you’re getting paid millions to play a game. Thats all it is.

It’s racism. Plain and simple. It’s so blatantly obvious that lots of the posters here are closet racist who hate the fact that black people are making way more money than they ever will. This is 100% true even though you’re obviously never going to hear them admit it.

The NFL is simply a complete mess right now. The players and owners only have themselves to blame. The anthem issue, the disingenuous owners, the NFLPA, which is a joke and a freakin weasly Commish who gets paid $40M PLUS A YEAR to sit on top of that pile of scat. Happy Father Day Roger, you’ll never be able to spend it all.

Every body wants more money. its the American way, BUT, if your under contract, you must abide by what you signed. Just as the owners must do. You signed for X amount of dollars, you must play for X amount of dollars, just as the owners must pay you X amount of dollars.

There’s a whole host of issues…Fans realize that players come and go. As such, fans are loyal to the team first. They realize that more money for an individual player will hurt a team’s competitiveness from a salary cap standpoint. Many fans make significantly less than even journeymen players. It’s hard to generate any sympathy for a guy making anywhere from 10-100x your annual salary. There’s also the sense that rules and contracts should matter, even if that notion is at odds with how business is conducted in the NFL. People just want their teams to do well and not hear about the nuts and bolts of how the sausage gets made.

I’ve stopped caring about the race card being played. Play it all you want, I don’t care. Most people hve lost interest in even arguing their side when this shows up. So, keep it up and keep playing the race card to an empty auditorium.

The question isn’t why don’t fans support millionaires holding out for being underpaid. The real question is, why aren’t fans complaining more vocally about ticket prices. $150 a ticket to watch a football game. I’m a huge NFL fan, but let’s face it, it’s a rip off. And if fans do need to pay these outrageous prices, why can’t owners pay for their own stadiums? Let the NFL itself replace the public funding with it’s own.

Because the “risks” of football vs even the lowest paycheck aren’t all that impressive.

They really aren’t.

Tell a guy making 28k a year in the military that 200k a GAME isn’t enough to cover the risk of a concussion.

A guy making 75k a year+ as an iron worker and deals with all the physical pounding that takes, year round just isn’t all that concerned that a guy might have stiff knees for only 12 million a year and access to the best doctors in the world.

Because most fans are not business owners, and can’t relate to not showing up for work because we regret the contract agreement we signed. Despite NFL players being employees like most of us, they are not relatable. I can’t blame anyone for wanting to make millions of dollars to underachieve, but I certainly won’t support it. Being in Cleveland, I’ll never forget when the Browns fan base clamored and fought for Josh Cribbs to get a new contract and rid himself of the one to which he had agreed. After getting that contract, Cribbs only scored one more return TD for the rest of his career.

Mike, You have posed a good question here. However one of my proudest memories was when, during the strike of 1982, the Steelworkers and other AFL-CIO unons took to the picket lines to walk next to the Steelers in Pittsburgh.

It was a magical moment confirming, that no matter how much you get paid, you always have a boss and are always subject to the tyrannies of management.

Players are GREEDY… that’s it in a nutshell.
Yes, the very same “greediness” that the very same players accuse the NFL owners of. Apparently the NFLPA players and the media feel that there should be 2 sets of rules:
1. For players, who are allowed to be greedy, free to commit crimes, cause PR nightmares for their employers, etc
2. Another for NFL owners/teams/NFL as a whole whereby they must be held to the highest standard possible regardless of limitations set forth by law or agreed upon in the CBA.
Increases in player salaries increases the overhead for NFL teams, resulting in increased ticket prices for fans. THAT is why I am firmly opposed to skyrocketing player salaries.
Isn’t it amazing, and hypocritical, that the very same fans who rip CEOs for their salaries, REFUSE to rip the NFL players for their salaries and petty demands?
So which is it people? Is it really acceptable for one group (NFLPA players) to be as greedy as possible) while destroying another group (NFL owners) who operate a massive enterprise and are responsible for the livelihood of thousands of people?
I will take a stand and call the NFLPA players GREEDY as all get out.

Great question Florio. As someone who maybe rested in a higher income bracket through most of my life – but who also doesn’t crave money – I would say that anyone with sense wants to maximize their income in their chosen profession. I left mine to do something more holistic but that isn’t normal I am told. People don’t like what they make. OK, but they make what they make because we pay for the product. When you make 55k a year some people don’t like the whole “someone else is in the .23%.” I get that too. But my question is that if you can seek to make more in what you do, and the scale is what it is…why can’t someone else make what they make when their scale is what it is? You don’t like what players make? Stop watching. That will drive down salaries. It’s a total market demand equation.

It is more than likely that the Fans ,understand how a Business work. I work at a GMC Plant which is a major Company/Manufacture. This Company has Billionaire that own it. They don’t give their employee’s profit based on the Owner of the Company profit.The CEO , and other makes outrageous money. But the normal employee’s doesn’t share in that money.And the only Option for a normal employee’s is to Quit working.Or if they are lucky take a Retirement package. The NFL is a Business.And a Major Business. The Player’s even if, they are Star’s player’s. Are still Just Employee’s of this company. And their salaries should not be connectected to the Business Owners salaries/ or profit.I believe the Player’s should get as much as they can. But, if you just signed a 5 years extension etc. And it is 15-20 months into that new contract.You should Not get a new contract, based on another player’s Attorney/Agent abilities to get them a Better contract.And , i don’t support the Owner’s.But, a business is a business.

I’m all for the players. In my opinion, they don’t get a large enough piece of the pie. And anyone who thinks these owners are outworking the players, you’ve gotta be joking. These guys dedicate their lives to playing a game for our enjoyment. It’s a year round job to take care of your body just to play it. Then count the gnarly injuries, surgeries, job is never safe. It can be a cruel game once they’re done. I’ll always support players getting more while they can.

If a team cuts a player before his contract is fulfilled, it’s because he’s not playing/producing at the level his contract indicates he should be contributing to the win total. So it’s not so much that fans are siding with the owners, but are siding against the player who isn’t contributing to the overall success of the team. Teams would probably be criticized for retaining a player based on his contract rather than on production. They would rather move on from the player no matter the financial or cap consequences

On the other hand, a player withholding his services is a good player who contributes to the team’s win column. When’s the last time a bad player withheld his services for more money? Fans don’t care about the money a player is or isn’t making. Their only focus is that their favorite team is winning. So when an important player is withholding his services for more money, he’s viewed as being selfish and putting his financial gain above the success of their favorite team.

People who constantly call others racists remind me a lot of those anti gay politicians who turn out to be gay. Obsession with race is a sign that you’ve got “closeted” racism in you and you hate yourself. Too bad.

Decent article with some good points, but my personal beef with the players, regardless of color, is the fact that they are paid millions of dollars to play a child’s game.

It can be viewed a multitude of ways:

As a player–
If I were a mid tier veteran quarterback (who has been healthy, leads team to playoffs and puts up respectable stats)who is on my rookie deal and see players such as Sam Bradford (injury prone, mid tier quarterback)continually get a king’s ransom for a contract, I would hold out too. All it takes is one team to over pay on mediocre talent to upend the NFL marketplace, hence the ridiculous contracts/holdouts that come up.

From a fans perspective, I think why we get alienated from the NFL holdouts is because they are living out childhood dreams and being paid millions for it. With those millions, these athletes have real power to do some good for their community or set themselves up for life with smart choices. Additionally, many of these young men don’t take the time to enhance their education and set up for life post football.

With social media, some choose to flaunt wealth via opulent purchases and showcasing it as if it were a badge of honor. Others choose to show up and under perform every Sunday (whether it is because of injuries or attitude) and then turn around to complain that they are not being paid enough.

Yes, it is their prerogative, but their incessant whining about needing a bigger contract feeds into the narrative that the players are out of touch with the fans that pay for the product (NFL).

As people that work a 9-5 jobs, we know what it is like to have to honor our contracts since it is more often than not, what keeps us from keeping the basic necessities of life (shelter, food, transportation) moving. It is not that we side with the owners per se, but we just realize that the natural order of the business world dictates we sign contracts and follow through on them.

The answer varies from fan to fan. I think most fans just want to see their team at full strength. I personally would like to see the players have a stronger union, with much better representation. I just don’t understand how a large group of young wealthy men, can’t seem to figure out a way to hire representatives who are truly capable of going to bat for them. The owners are used to getting their own way, so threats and strikes will usually backfire. The players really just need representatives that the owners can respect, and they’ll give more to the players. When I hear union bosses calling out the owners in the media, I just cringe for the players, knowing that this routine never works in their favor. Many of the players don’t come from affluent families, so money management skills need to be a priority. You can’t blow the first five million dollars, thinking you’ll be smarter with the next five million, because that next payday doesn’t always materialize. The bottom line is I think the player’s union is terrible.

If they made the NFL like the MLB there would be no cap, allowing teams with the most money to get the best players which I’d be fine with. Fans get pissed cause we understand that if we overpay on a WR now we have less money to get another player big money. Look at how Joe Flacco’s team went from elite to bleh after they overpaid him. Maybe keep the cap for guaranteed money, and give players uncapped incentives for TD’s, yards, INT’s, sacks, and so-on. Then us fans really won’t care what players are making if they earn the money

You just don’t get it. It is because Enough is Enough. It is a game, and too many of these players have been coddled since they were boys because they could play this game well. Does that mean they should have a money tree for the rest of their lives, and their grandchildren’s children too? Sorry, but the Fans who have been priced out of the game day experience, do not think it is funny anymore.

Could be because they don’t have a money tree, but some player’s enjoy rubbing it in our faces. A baseball manager, Sparky Anderson said about a player making more than a $1 million per year. “What are they going to do, eat it.” It just points to the absurdity of it all. It seems to be like a weenie wagging contest even more now. Teams have to out do each other so player’s can wag it proudly!

Fans do not like players who hold out for more money in most cases because the teams do not think the players deserve the extra money. If they think more money is deserved, many teams will give a player more pay on their own. For example, even though the Eagles have little salary cap space, they voluntarily raised the pay of their SB MVP Nick Foles, without him asking for a trade or holding out. Teams are not always right for course in their personnel decisions, and sometimes they overpaid some players and underpaid some players. If the fans think that the player is asking for more than he deserves, then the fans of course won’t support him.

mainly because the ones doing it aint poor.They are highly paid.This is a zero sum game.You give the rich players more money because of greed or whatever some deserving player down the line loses out.Dont give me that crap about they need to get when they can.If I got a mill Id still have it because I didnt go buy a car woth a million bucks and some freakin ear rings with a hundred k

Here I thought most people would agree with the simply point I noticed…but people seem more happy to call the players greedy. It’s real simple…it’s called a salary cap.

This thing called the salary cap limits the amount of money can be spent on the roster. Regardless of the owner’s wealth, or the pay of an individual player, there is a set amount as to how much can be spent. You can’t pay every player $20 mil a year, it just isn’t possible. So for me, I get irritated when a guy is already being paid well and is still holding out for more, because I know that can cause my team to be worse in the long run and lose key pieces. If we didn’t have a salary cap, I wouldn’t care one bit.

Simple; most fans are idiots. They sit in their living room/den, swill beer and complain about anyone who’s better off than they are. They respect the billionaire owners because they are conned into believing they worked hard and earned their billions. They forget that many of the teams and ownership has been passed down through the family. Or that some of the owners inherited their wealth. Other may be crookeder than a dog’s hind leg. Haslam anyone? Anyone who has that much money has cut corners and bent the rules all along they way. They’ve been coddled and given sweet-heart deals by politicians for decades. They’ve gotten breaks and privileges the working man and players can only dream about. Players pay taxes in every state they play in, if their is an income tax in that state. Stadiums, with few exceptions, are paid for with public funds, roads and infrastructure is built for their convenience and paid for by the public. There’s tax abatement for them. Revenue from public parking facilities. The list is endless. Do the players get any deals like that? Tax abatement? A road or water line or sewer put in next to their home for free? No.
But yeah, those boys are vastly over-paid and the owners are the real hard workers.

Several people already said it, but it’s really simple. Fans enjoy football and don’t care about the business side of it. A holdout means their team will be less competitive and less fun to watch. When some players demand too much of the salary cap, that leaves less for others to build a winning team, which is less fun to watch. If Tom Brady and Gronk each make $50m per year, no one would watch the two man show with waterboys filling in around them.

Because most fans are jealous losers. When they want a raise at work, it’s somehow different though. Always amuses me when people talk about how much they love America, but one of our main principles, capitalism, goes right out the window if somebody is perceived to be making too much, whatever that means.

I’m a fan of the NFL because I like football, I’m a fan of the Eagles and I root for the laundry. Whoever steps on the field in a Eagle uniform I root for. I don’t care what they’re protesting or if they’re not. I don’t care if some fans are ticked off about the National Anthem being played and standing or kneeling or whatever. I do what I think is right and the other fans or players are allowed to follow what they think is right. Your not changing anything so shut up and watch football or do something else. NOBODY CARES.

Im all for a guy wanting more money, theres nothing with that. What Im not okay with is a guy demanding more money with term left on a contract offered and signed in good faith. You can imagine the response if a team went to a payer and said you only had 00 yrds rushing or you were intercepted 20 times last year so we’d like eight million dolars back. Players never offer to return money after they underperform their contracts, so why should they expect more when they outplay it?

Best option is to bet on yourself like Cousins did, play well and hit the lottery

Explanation: Most of us played a team sport growing up,and the idea of loyalty to your teammates (who also run the risk of injury to help you succeed as well as the team) is something most of us hold above being loyal to yourself. Even if we did or did not participate, the idea of loyalty to others is constant theme in society, whether it stem from country, faith, or community. It doesn’t matter how good you personally are, everyone has the same risk of injury out there, and the idea of refusing to practice because you are dissatisfied with your money while your teammates are working is not something I can root for.

How would Le’Veon Bell feel if his offensive line saw him staying home decided to do the same? If the whole Steelers team just decided “Well, he’s not practicing, so I’m not either?” Would we rather have a team of untrained rich buffoons who are paid to win games but have no ability to because everybody held out? If that is not right for the team, how is it right for one player? They are paid, in part, to practice.

A lot of times players hold out while there are still years left on their contract. That’s just dishonorable in my eyes, and in the eyes of many others. If you agree to do something, and receive millions or even thousands for it and decide to renege on your agreement because you want more, that’s not honorable. Moreover, how can you be trusted next time? I know teams frequently refuse to honor the entirety of their contracts, and that is something that should be addressed, but the actions of others do not change the actions of the players. Some of these guys hold out with a year left, which isn’t the worst, but some of these guys stay home with two or more these days. Many of us, who make salaries FAR FAR FAR below the minimum in the NFL, just do not see how people cannot live-lavishly, at that-on the salaries they make in the NFL, let alone complain about not having enough. The league minimum salary is more than the President’s. No, we’re not talking about Trump specifically, just the office. Let that sink in-these men, every single one, even the rookies, make more than the President makes in a year. And they’re unhappy with the money they make.

Lastly, and the biggest most important reason, is that they hurt their teams by demanding to take up more of the salary cap so they can have what they want. If there are ten people stranded on a ship at sea with only a a day’s worth of rations, and the captain decides to take half a day’s worth for himself because he’s the most valuable person, is that a righteous decision, or is it just greedy? Answer that question for yourself. These players might not be playing for literal food, but most are playing for livelihoods, as they do not get the multi-million or even multi-year contracts. But there is less for them to take because the highest paid players are taking more of it individually. The money is not being spread out. The guys on the edge of the roster are not paid being more, the stars are.

If there were no salary cap, your premise would make sense. But cap or not, that still would not trim out individual greed on the part of players. You’ll still get ludicrous contracts like Alex Rodriguez or Giancarlo Stanton or Robinson Canoe, but it wouldn’t hurt the team or other players trying to do the same. But do NOT make the critical mistake that most of us who are scolding players are on the side of the owners. The owners are bad as they are, but that doesn’t erase the players’ actions.

This posting is spot on. Fans and media report every labor dispute as a hold out or strike even when they are locked out by the owners. It happens in every sport.
We also see this outside of sports whenever labor is negotiating with management. Everyone seems to side with management and bemoans a strike or protests.
Which leads to the larger point of people voting against their own self-interests. Why do people at or near the poverty line vote for a political party that benefits corporate welfare and billionaires while devastating social programs?
The answer is simple, conservative are incapable of empathy and 60% of the population believe they are or will be in the top 1% so they’ll screw themselves to screw others later.

Those of you saying billionaires worked for their money… RIDICULOUS. Most billionaires inherit their money from a daddy who inherited it from his daddy. Now trump did away with inheritance taxes and even more money will be tied up in the hands of a smaller and smaller group of greedy billionaires who could not care less about Middle Class, or lower, folks. Some of you need to read a histrory book. Many in the lower income brackets have these ridiculous ideas (the great american dream machine) that if things just break right for thenm they too could be billionaires. BALONEY! Good luck with that.

First of all, most owners are not billionaires. They owe huge amounts when they purchased the team. Rich, yes; billionaires; only a few of them. Second, the owners were already rich when they purchased the team. They became wealthy from something else. The players went from poor students to lottery winners overnight. They got lucky because their peculiar skill is outrageously lucrative. Hard to find sympathy for someone already wealthy from playing a child’s game who wants millions more. Third, when an owner puts the screws to his city for a better stadium, that better stadium improves the fans’ experience; whereas, when a player holds out, he is hurting the team by not practicing and when successful reduces the pot available for other better players. Fourth, when a player holds out for a better contract, fans see it as a lottery winner complaining about the problems of too much money. Fans only complain about owners when they threaten to move. But in that case there is a sad city and a happy city. Fifth, few really begrudges a Bill Gates for obtaining wealth by building a business into a powerhouse that makes him enormously wealthy, because we all imagine we can do that, too. But no 5-8 weakling can possibly imagine becoming a professional athlete. Even good high school football players realize that they are nowhere near the elite skills of a professional football player.

Ron Jull says:
June 17, 2018 at 1:56 pm
Im all for a guy wanting more money, theres nothing with that. What Im not okay with is a guy demanding more money with term left on a contract offered and signed in good faith. You can imagine the response if a team went to a payer and said you only had 00 yrds rushing or you were intercepted 20 times last year so we’d like eight million dolars back. Players never offer to return money after they underperform their contracts, so why should they expect more when they outplay it?

Best option is to bet on yourself like Cousins did, play well and hit the lottery

Its a contract, you signed it,honor it.
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Teams routinely squeeze players to take a pay cut/ restructure to team advantage with the threat of getting cut just before the season starts which makes it harder to find a new team or get similar compensation.
If players had guaranteed contracts your point would be valid. As it stands they don’t any your point is off the mark.

Why do we have to explain this every year? There are only 16 regular season games per year. A few teams make the playoffs and get more compensation for them. Most of the whiners don’t play in more than 1 preseason game. NBA players have 82 games per year and MLB players, 162 games.

Where is the extra money going to come from? Either from the pockets of the marginal players or from the fans. Fans think they pay enough now and marginal players are exposed to the same risks as the high priced whiners. It’s simple. If you don’t think that you are getting enough, quit and try your hand at the NBA or MLB.

None of the above. How about, because the more one player gets, the less salary cap space the team has for other good players, potentially worsening the team. And also, because we want to see our teams win, which usually requires players to practice and play at a high level. Nothing more.

Liberalsruineverything says:
June 17, 2018 at 2:02 pm
The media war against white guys rages on, and on
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Poor, poor, white folks. Just can’t seem to catch a break. The Earth is getting warmer and the conservative snowflakes are just melting.

Fans should take a page out of the teammates handbook and not worry about other people’s pockets. I’m sure if any working class person knew that they were getting paid below their value they would want more or go to where they could get more. They make millions to risk their lives and health to do something most are too scared to do. Just enjoy and be entertained.

Honestly, none of these guts are starving. And they signed contracts which are in fact committments. I do agree the contracts are a bit one sided because they allow one side to blow off the their commitment and not the other, but still that was the agreement at the time of signing so its not a factor, or if it was they should have worked out more guaranteed money. A lot of these contracts are also considered blockbusters at the time of their signing and everyone is happy while egos are stroked. But then a few years later other contracts have jumped ahead (and the way each new contract becomes the baseline the next contract seeks to beat this should not be any surprise) and suddenly that deal the player was all happy about they are now mad not gecause they are not getting what they signed for, but because someone else is getting more. And the suggestion it is about race is offensive because any suggestion that any one race gets into these situations more often at the same time that suggests that race is less honorable to their word, something I dont believe. So it gets tiring because you have someone agreeing to something then crying like they are some sort of victim for getting held to that agreement.

Why anyone cares about what another person makes is absurd. If you honestly get upset because another person, that has nothing to do with you in any way, wants more money, you should re-examine your life. Redirect that wasted passion into your family, your community….anything else, really.

Love when the media spins about this, but then look at their HoF votes. 1st ballot types who go in spend the majority of their career with one team. Guys who have issues getting in usually went to multiple teams and had attitude problems where they were too much of a headache for their original team to handle. For example – Larry Fitzgerald will be 1st ballot shoo in. But TO had to wait how long?

Simple reason for the above is fans and even the media who cackle about players getting more money all respect guys who knuckle down and win despite the odds and stay with their original team while doing so. It boils down to – are you about your money or becoming legendary by winning with the team that drafted you?

The Life Expectancy In The N.F.L. Is Short, But The Amount Of Money Made By Most Of These Players Is Far More Than An Average Of Most Americans. Plus Whether They Took Advantage Of It Or Not, A lot Of These Players Got Or Should Have Got A College Education Out Of It…..For Free ..Your Career Comes To An End, Go Find A Job In The Work Force Like Most Of Us.

Just because we’re sick of the greediness of players, doesn’t automatically make us sympathizers to the owners, Mike. For instance, im in favor of OBJ holding out for a new contract, because he’s entering the last year of his rookie deal. I’m diametrically opposed to Julio Jones holding out when HE SIGNED A 6 (or was it 7?) YEAR DEAL AND HAS 3 YEARS LEFT. I’m not against Julio getting more so Arthur Blank can keep it in his pocket, I’m against it because it’s not right.

It’s funny how many people resent other people for wanting more money…it’s not just “God given talent”…natural ability can only take a player so far. In order to be successful at any professional sport it takes a lot of hard work and dedication…and in a violent sport like football, the opportunity to earn money is finite and sometimes a lot shorter than expected due to injury…any one of us would want to be paid what we deem fair or what the market will bear…

Except for the third point and Green Bay where Packer fans on here brag about having “a small non caucasian population” this is just making something out of nothing. It’s quite simple. Fans are for “team” and against anything that goes against “team”. Keep it simple. No need to make it difficult.

It’s funny reading some comments here about billionaire owners working hard to get rich like players just sit on their butts or something. And those same people defending owners are the same people who complain owners shouldn’t get tax money. Americans are whiners which is why it’s so easy for the media and politicians to be divisive. In reality, if people looked at the big picture it’s clear as day most players work hard and are overlooked. Don’t get me wrong and think owners are greedy monsters, but they set the price for tickets and concessions. Well, actually the great divide in the have the have-nots set the prices based on supply and demand.

When teams stop asking for tax breaks or asking suckers, I mean fans to pay for PSLs and stop charging outrageous prices for food and drink, and stop switching games in the northeast to Sunday night during cold months, then I’ll think about beginning to care about whose pocket my dollars go into.

If I were a mid tier veteran quarterback (who has been healthy, leads team to playoffs and puts up respectable stats)who is on my rookie deal and see players such as Sam Bradford (injury prone, mid tier quarterback)continually get a king’s ransom for a contract, I would hold out too.

————————-
I wouldnt hold out. Instead I would fire my agent and go get the guy representing Bradford to handle my next one.

Unlike other sports football has a hard salary cap. Every team gets the same amount of money to spend. If you pay a player more then you have less to spend on others.

You may say its ‘unfair’ that player A doesn’t get paid more.
But if A is paid more then other players have to take pay cuts or be cut. Is that ‘fair’ to the other players? Some will go to other teams causing those teams to have to cut expenses (cutting players or demanding pay cuts). Is that ‘fair’ to them?

Fairness isn’t the issue. Its supply and demand and negotiations.
If a very good player wants to be paid like an elite one, a team can’t do it.
If a player wants to maximize their earnings then sign a series of short term contracts like Kirk Cousins did. Cousins is a QB and will get paid. If a LB at age 26 tried it, they could probably find a team. But when that LB is 29, no one will give him the same kind of contract. He’ll have to play year to year to maximize his earnings.
Assuming he doesn’t get hurt.

The ‘fairness’ issue is how much should the players get vs the owners. I think the players should get more than 49% like in other sports. The reason they don’t is bad union leadership, and an unwillingness to strike because they have such short careers compared to other sports.

spartanlegend says:
June 17, 2018 at 1:08 pm
It’s racism. Plain and simple. It’s so blatantly obvious that lots of the posters here are closet racist who hate the fact that black people are making way more money than they ever will. This is 100% true even though you’re obviously never going to hear them admit it.

Something tells me you see racism just about every minute of every day.

“…demand that the revenue generated by the sport be more fairly distributed to those who make the sport what it is.”
———

The revenue generated by the sport is already distributed between players and owners in an agreed-upon percentage (the salary cap) according to, as you point out, the “broader contract that dictates the team-player relationship” (the CBA).

If you want to advocate for this revenue to be distributed “more fairly” (meaning even greater percentage for players and less for owners), you should write an article about changing that term in the CBA.

Instead, the article you have written actually deals only with the distribution of the salary cap pie *among the players*. Once a team hits the salary cap, the owner couldn’t pay more money to any of his team’s players even if he wanted to.

(Acknowledged: some owners don’t pay out the full salary cap, although they do pay out at least the CBA agreed-upon minimum.)

There was a similar push back against Hollywood, their predominantly white actors, their predominately white directors, and their predominately white producers. The push back is as old as humanity. The have-not’s push against the haves. The haves exploit the have-not’s. The main difference that America offers is the chance (while small) for have-not’s to become haves and the ability to allow their prodigy to becomes haves as well. Congratulations race-baiters, racial minorities can belong to the have’s class and get all the anger that comes with that from the have-not’s. When your main complaint is “why don’t people love me when I tell them 9 million a year is not enough? I should be getting 12 million!” then you probably have made it in life and should not be expecting sympathy from the 95+% of the population that makes far less than you. Race withstanding… see Hollywood.

The fans ultimately pay the salaries. It’s not as most socialist believe. It’s not rich owners paying the tab, it is the people who buy the tickets, merchandise and watch the advertising. What does Goodyear tire company tack into a tire so they can advertise during NFL games? 10 bucks? Pay 40 bucks more for a set of tires, maybe? And players want fans to pay 80 bucks more so they can get more? And tickets to games. Couple hundred a pop. Should fans pay 400 a pop? Maybe 50 bucks for a beer would be acceptable so a player can make 2 million dollars to play football for 30 minutes on Sunday? Hundred dollar hot dogs? Why do fans not like players getting overpaid? Not a hard answer.

Envy, animosity and jealousy are why some people display their dislike..Stop with “it’s a game and comparisons to regular jobs comments”..Nobody is getting up on Sunday mornings exited to turn the TV on and watch you at YOUR job!

niners816 says:
June 17, 2018 at 1:05 pm
Its a real easy answer: it’s a game. They are getting paid to play a game that they grew up playing as kids for nothing. Thats good on them for not having a real job and making money. But all in all, you’re getting paid millions to play a game. Thats all it is.
——————————————————————————————–

In it’s basic form, yes, it is a game.
But in the grand scheme of things, it’s way more than that.
It’s live entertainment – it’s a tv show (hell, the league has it’s own network).
It’s a $10 billion dollar a year industry.
They sell jerseys with players names on them and video games with their likenesses.
They are a commodity and should be paid like it.
How many people pay $100+ plus for a ticket (plus seat license fees), a fortune for parking/hot dogs/beer or $300 a year to stay home and watch it on tv if it was “just a game”?

Because the answer is so obvious, this question is almost condescending. Pro athletes, unlike the average fan, have it “made in the shade” financially. Their Collective Bargaining Agreements make it difficult for followers of professional sports, even rabid fans, to empathize with their grievances. Even if they don’t break the bank with a career-defining contract, these players are in a good financial position to “get on with their life” after their sports career. They are paid per-diem to stay in the best hotels, are limited to the number of practices they must attend, and then they make product-endorsement money. On top of this economic disparity, and very much related, team owners want the public to finance the stadiums these players work and play in. Fans’ support for players who want more can only go so far.

It just amazes me how many grown up children we have as football fans. Every one in this country, no matter what race, has a RIGHT to better themselves in any way they see fit under the law. A billionaire owner has the right to make more money, a millionaire player has the right to make more money, a kid working fast food has the right to become a billionaire. If it makes you jealous that someone else has more than you, GOOD. Go out an do it yourself. You want to be rich, go do it. Stop complaining about what other people are doing and worry about yourself. You don’t get rich on vacation, and airline miles and credit card points have never made anyone wealthy. Its all there laid out in front of all of us, its not that hard.

Maybe because tickets, concessions, parking, jerseys and apparel are all overpriced and way too expensive. Then, there’s the biggest ripoff which is due to sports, the ever increasing cable/satellite bill

If you are so determined to bring race into it, then why don’t you question why the league is made up of approximately 80% blacks when the US population is about 13% black. Why is that part fair to you? For most of us, it’s obvious why and we don’t even think about race until you keep bringing it up. Your imagined hatred towards minorities is more of a reflection of yourself, so quit pinning it on the fans. Before you stirred things up, the fans loved these players.

We learned as real men (what women think doesn’t matter when it comes to sports) that when you sign a contract, you honor it. We know that if the owners would screw around with a contract, players wouldn’t like it.

So when you athletes sign something, you should be bound by it.

Or, you should be man enough to never play under that contract again and suffer all the penalties you deserve.

One only has to look back at how Viking fans welcomed back and even embraced a child abuser.
They maintained their adulation for him even when he played the victim and demanded a raise for all the indignities and loss of pay he had to endure from an NFL mandated suspension.

This fan base was more than willing to sacrifice their integrity and moral judgement, all for the sake of a possible 3 or 4 more wins a season.
And race had absolutely nothing to do with it.

Every fan thinks their favorite team is *this* close to putting it together and winning it all. Of course, it is based on thinking the best players on the team are so good. Then, one of those players deviates from the “plan” (record scratch, glass breaks). So of course the animosity is immediately directed at the guy who shatters the fantasy.

While racial divide is a huge problem in America, I don’t think it applies here.

Think about any story involving a player holding out…who is identified? It is never cast as a player versus the owner, or the GM. It is the player, versus the team (hey! That’s my favorite team!). One guy is named, one guy is the focal point of the disconnect between the fantasy (my favorite team is going to get it done this year!) and the reality (what? All is not going according to the plan in my head?).

Couldn’t be more offended by Florio’s assertion that it’s a race thing. What Florio doesn’t get, is that fans love their teams first and foremost. They love and care about players second. Doesn’t matter whether white or black. So when a player asks for more and more money which basically means their favorite team might lose them or if they sign them won’t have enough money for other key players, that’s why it bugs the fans. It has nothing to do with race.

It’s funny reading comments about how players have it so rough, needing to eat healthy(even though it’s on record that they all don’t), or needing to put in those long 3 hour gym sessions daily. Yeah, they definelty have it rough I tell you. Maybe those hand cramps from signing all that merch, or all that free stuff they get from endorsements, they have to buy those bi fancy SUVs to truck it everywhere. Don’t they have something like 6-8 weeks off now? Yep, they deserve all the money because they only have so long to make it, meanwhile I’ll work till I’m 75 and never gross more than 6 figures in that time. Give me a break, you people are delusional, stop putting them on a pedestal.

So the gist of this “article” is you posted because you want to make blanket assumptions about people you don’t know, accusing white people of being racists, and the ones who aren’t secretly actually are, they just don’t know it because they’re not as smart as you need to pretend you are.

That’s about as intelligent and objective as when you tried to state your collusion theory as a fact.

By the way I always side with the players versus the money grubber owners who have ruined football because they want to pretend they just found out brain damage is bad for you and don’t want to take care of the people whose injuries they got richer off.

1. Over and over again – “they’re getting paid to play a game”. A tough brutal game. Sure they know it going in, but they’re the ones risking their health and bleeding out on that field. The owners “risk” losing money – but not even much of a risk (if any). When was the last time a team, even a really bad one like the Browns, actually lost money for the owner? But this is America, and money’s more important than people.

2. Over and over again – the player signed a contract he should live up to it.
The team signed the same contract. Why is it OK for them to trash it any time they want?
Because they control the money so they control the rules? And, this being America, money’s more important than people.

I actually think that the CBA is the bad component and not the players, the owners or race. The contract needs to allow for a larger cap space and set out more player security when tagged, franchised or released from contracts with more than one year left.

Expect proposed changes to be contentious and likely result in a lockout/impasse.

All the fans really want is for their favorite team to win games. If the best players aren’t playing, that hurts the team’s chances. There’s no one to blame if a player can’t play because of an injury, but if a player voluntarily holds out and misses games during the regular season (or holds out during training camp and isn’t physically ready to perform at his best when the season starts) that is perceived as hurting the team….and by extension, hurting the fans of that team. It’s nothing personal and has nothing to do with race. Fans just want their teams to win and anything that hurts the team chances is going to be frowned on. Holding out or playing is something the player can control. That’s why most fans are against them when they hold out. They don’t give a crap about how much money the player is making or not making. It’s all about winning.

Most of the big fights in the media are regarding big name players so naturally someone making $50k per year is going to be skeptical about someone holding out for $20 million instead of $15 million. plus, some of these guys make silly statements like they are disrespected or barely getting pennies. And lots of people risk their health at jobs that pay very little. that being said, the owners are some cold bastards.

“Some (many) white fans surely resent (consciously or not) the fact that African-American men parlay God-given physical skills into the kind of money and fame that the average white person never will enjoy, no matter how hard he or she works. So when African-American players try to get more money that some (many) white fans think they don’t really deserve, those fans get even more upset, reasoning that the players who already have more than they should should simply be happy with what they’re getting.”

========

I’m glad you know what I’m thinking, because this thought never crossed my mind. I had no idea how racist I apparently am!

It can’t be because players tend to hold out when they outperform a contract but are never willing to renegotiate a lower contract when they underperform. That’s what leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

At least that what I thought until you told me it’s because I’m racist…..

Only in the minds of white supremacists. Tell us please of one, just one, incidence of prejudice against you as a white guy.
————————————————

In the 1980s, despite having a Masters degree with a close to 4.0 GPA in Computer Science and (as a contractor) leading a project at a world-renowned phone company, I was not able to get hired on because I was white. Meanwhile, many minorities were being hired with 2-year non-engineering degrees and B averages. Because, you know, quotas made it fair. If anything, the minorities who were good were being hurt by those quotas because of the perception they were not hired based on merit. Eventually was let go and found a job somewhere else.

My feeling is that a football player has a finite amount of time to make his money. If he lasts 10 years in the league, he’s extremely fortunate. He is one play away from losing the ability to earn. With that being said, you should play out your contract. You were man enough to sign it.

Only in the minds of white supremacists. Tell us please of one, just one, incidence of prejudice against you as a white guy.
————————————————

In the 1980s, despite having a Masters degree with a close to 4.0 GPA in Computer Science and (as a contractor) leading a project at a world-renowned phone company, I was not able to get hired on because I was white. Meanwhile, many minorities were being hired with 2-year non-engineering degrees and B averages. Because, you know, quotas made it fair. If anything, the minorities who were good were being hurt by those quotas because of the perception they were not hired based on merit. Eventually was let go and found a job somewhere else.

There’s no connection with fans/players anymore, that’s the main problem.

In the old days, there was no free agency and players stayed with their teams (for the most part) and their communities. If you’ll notice, there’s usually a difference between a guy that’s been with the team for a decade and a guy that’s been there for two years and demanding a new contract.

Another thing that pisses most fans off is the disregard players have for the fans. The truth of the matter is that without fans buying tickets, merchandise, and watching games on television (eyes bring advertisers, advertisers allow networks to bid more for games) they wouldn’t have the opportunity for a huge payday nor even have a job.

again and again with this. it’s uninformed. players are free to pursue whatever the market will bear, but the reality is that they are negotiating against the value of their own team mates. the cap makes it a zero sum game. now if you want to crusade for a bigger player slice of the pie in the next CBA, that’s a perfectly logical objective, til then drop the empty posturing.

For a long time, before ESPN, people watched sports to get away with the common problems we all face. Nagging wife, screaming brats, crappy job, etc.
NOW, we have to hear about these common problems, as well, faced by these millionaires and have no patience with constantly being bombarded by these sports tabloids.
Between out and out greed, unpatriotic players and crappy owners, the NFL is losing its appeal.

Some people can’t mind their own business because their own business is way too boring. NFL players don’t play football to please losers who have never even come close to using a comma properly. Get over yourselves. You don’t matter.

nhpats – Neither you nor dvjh2 himself know the actual reason(s) why he did not get hired at that phone company. Perhaps, despite his apparent excellent credentials, he was applying for a position for which he was not suited. In fact, if many people with lesser credentials were being hired it appears he was overqualified for the position.

By the way, quotas were struck down in the early 90’s by the Supreme Court.

It teaches people that the agreement to do a job does not matter. If you’re unhappy with your pay (which you agreed on) you can just sit back and do nothing. I hope their waiters and checkout cashiers adopt this same attitude the next time they are in getting a meal or shopping and then their “customer service associate” tells them, “Sorry, I’m not doing my job that I agreed on until they pay me more”.
Finish out your contracts with honor, prove that you’re worth more, and then when you get signed again, THEN ask for more money. Simple as that.

Sports can be an amusing tme filler but for the masses, it’s an opiate. They don’t mind paying a billionaire thousands of dollars in their taxes to keep them in town or burn their $199 “official” uniform (made of $3 of cloth and stitching) when a player has the audacity to leave town … the masses are morons – look at the literal opiates they willingly take. THey don’t realize they are cheering for a piece of clothing. Thta’s not to say there aren’t great players who are charitable or pleasant enough as entertainers but they are merely public entertainers – nothing more, nothing less. But people are delusional. A local team winning a championship is apparently an opiate like delusional feeling for millions – odd. A championship does not validate your city nor a loss diminish it – it’s merely bread and circuses for the masses. I certainly understand it and it is fun to mock a losing city but only because, they actually are affected by it. But look, who lost the MLS championshi[? No idea. Just looked it up – apparently it was Seattle. How many people in Seattle care or feel diminished because they lost? 25? Versus when the Seahawks lost? It’s all just a delusion, an illusion and an allusion, only the non critical thinkers masses care.

Only in the minds of white supremacists. Tell us please of one, just one, incidence of prejudice against you as a white guy
________________
THIS ARTICLE.
How about constantly being told your options or thoughts dont matter because your white “you dont know what like….”.
How about quotas in business that give everyone else a leg up against you.
Same at colleges that put quotas ahead of merit.
Being told by the media that you are the cause of every problem in the world.

Why do people forget racism was NOT invented in the us. White people as well have a history of being slaves. I have Scottish and Irish heritage. Just take a quick look at history.

My lord cant we all get along. Not everything is racist. Some news outlets are training people to hate white people.

Most people who grow up in the United States are taught that crying and pouting to get your way should not be rewarded. Right or wrong, the consumer can easily see parallels of players saying “Im just not going to play until you give me more” as whining kids. I don’t think it’s right for clubs to cut players before the end of a signed contract, but the question was “Why don’t more people support player’s wanting more?”.

I also agree with a majority of the comments here, the race stuff is non sequitur to the question posed (although it does play a role in all of this), slinging those arrows to force people to have to defend what is in essence a life long social construct is not appreciated.

So, yeah, people (parent’s in particular) see players not doing what they said they are going to do through the lens of their experience (kids pouting and being rebellious). It is easier to identify with the Panthers, Bills, or whatever club versus the club owner anyway. So they see the player as harming their team by holding out and thus….. No support for the most part.

AND—- Florio, your pandering to player causes to get them to come onto your podcast/garbage videos is pathetic, obvious, and annoying. Try to play it straight instead of always siding with players so they will take your texts. It’s as bad as Fox News does with Trump (your apparent nemesis), so Pot meet Kettle.

It’s always interesting the feathers that get ruffled anytime the words racism or racist are entered into a discussion. Either you are racist or you’re not. If you’re not, then don’t worry about it because no one is pointing the finger at you. If you are a racist, why not just be true to yourself and dress the part. White sheets are pretty cheap when you find them on sale.

rohinaz – You actually feel that THIS ARTICLE indicates prejudice against you as a white guy? I thought you people were against opinions based on emotion.

If you were using facts and logic you would know that your quota rant is incorrect because, again, the Supreme Court outlawed the use of quotas in the early 90’s. Anyone complaining about not getting a job or into school since then because of a (non-existent) quota is simply deflecting from their own lack of qualifications to achieve those positions.

When a guy on the practice squad makes $400k or the active players make $600,000 to $28 million for six months of work and they apply themselves for three to six hours a week, oh and cut that time in half, then go bankrupt because they live beyond their means, most fans don’t feel sympathy. When you voluntarily provide your skills for pay and demand, not ask for more, kinda leaves a sour taste.

I love how people just forget that these players spent their youth exercising, training, and playing the game for free. 10 year olds in pads. From 14 to 18, these kids give up summers for Summer Camp. Not to mention going to High School on top of it. As College athletes, they make mulit-millions for their schools and programs and dont see a dime out of it. On top of sacrificing even more. They get what? A scholorship that can get yanked at any time and with so many restrictions and expectations itll make your eyes spin? Big Whoop.

And forget about the simple math and the CBA that states the almost $10 Bil a year revenue is split between the owners and players (53/47). Thats $4.7 Billion spread over 1760 rostered NFL Players (32*55) plus the practice squads and injured. So say 2500 players share $4.7 Billion. If it was spread equally (which it obviously isnt) each player would still make $1.8 mil.

Those kids/men deserve every penny. And shame on anyone who thinks someone else shouldnt be getting paid what they are worth, in any industry, in any situation.

This is capitalism folks…deal with it. Quit being angry because you arent where you think you should be and someone else has risen higher.

charger383 says:
June 17, 2018 at 2:36 pm
I used to like seeing players get big money, after the kneeling started I changed my mind. I will enjoy seeing them get less next CBA.

———————
Thats the strategy behind how the league is handling the anthem protests. Since the players are making such a big deal about wanting to do them the league sees the bargaining chip in all that. So they are coming down on it with the idea that in the next CBA negotiations they can put it on the table to be exchanged for concessions that mean more money for the owners. The NFL is developing new revenue sources so this is a way for the owners to hold onto a bigger piece of that new pie, and also they can get concessions that relieve them of some of the long term care liability espectially where CTE (somthing that can really jack up long term care costs) is concerned. But if it turns out that the players dont want permission to do anthem protests quite as much as they want that money the NFLs plan could backfire. Its going to be interesting to watch.

I’m not a fan of the way the NFL divides the $$$, especially the amount of $$$ that gets doled out to the NFL league office (where it is like xmas every single day). The issue of not supporting players (as suggested in this article) is more about utility than relative wealth though. Players generally binge spend the $$$ that they get, and end up broke within 2 years. Why should fans want to pay more for tickets, apparel, etc., when the players don’t respect where the $$$ come from? Once again, the victim mentality doesn’t really work. Eventually everyone has to be responsible for their own behavior.

bannedfromchoirpractice says:
June 17, 2018 at 5:44 pm
It’s always interesting the feathers that get ruffled anytime the words racism or racist are entered into a discussion. Either you are racist or you’re not. If you’re not, then don’t worry about it because no one is pointing the finger at you. If you are a racist, why not just be true to yourself and dress the part. White sheets are pretty cheap when you find them on sale.
_________________________________________________________________________________

The problem is that calling someone racist is for the most part not constructive to any dialog or dealing with mitigating the real social problems of race relations and privilege. So you can sit there and say “White sheets blah blah blah” and feel superior, but what’s the end game…. Racial privilege, particularly white privilege is a real issue that is deeply embedded in this country’s history, but putting people on a immediate defensively posture is not helpful, especially if it only serves to make yourself feel superior is pretty low class.

Racism and being a bigot are two separate issues altogether. Do some real research into these topics and be open to having an actual conversation. Because otherwise all your going to get is “Fake News” and internet trolls with an opinion…. (myself included, obviously).

And no, its not “Your racist or your not”, it is true that your a bigot or your not but implicit bias, benefiting from racial privilege, and social status are different issues altogether.

campcouch says:
June 17, 2018 at 5:59 pm
When a guy on the practice squad makes $400k or the active players make $600,000 to $28 million for six months of work and they apply themselves for three to six hours a week, oh and cut that time in half, then go bankrupt because they live beyond their means, most fans don’t feel sympathy. When you voluntarily provide your skills for pay and demand, not ask for more, kinda leaves a sour taste.

—————–
If you think they ‘apply’ themselves for only 3 to 6 hours a week for only 6 months a year, youre delusional. Or ignorant.

In the 1980s, despite having a Masters degree with a close to 4.0 GPA in Computer Science and (as a contractor) leading a project at a world-renowned phone company, I was not able to get hired on because I was white. Meanwhile, many minorities were being hired with 2-year non-engineering degrees and B averages. Because, you know, quotas made it fair. If anything, the minorities who were good were being hurt by those quotas because of the perception they were not hired based on merit. Eventually was let go and found a job somewhere else.

*********************

This is laughably full of lies. You had a job leading a project, but then you couldn’t get hired on, then you were let go? What?
And I suppose you knew who was being hired and what their qualifications were, because you were in the interview room? Maybe that’s why you were fired/not hired, because you were a stalker?

Most likely truth here is: you had a job with a company that had a lot of employees, including many minorities. You were a racist creep and fired because you couldn’t get along well with others.

Now it’s florio the race baiting leftist. Let me tell ya pal it has nothing to do with race for me, I hate the fact that qb’s suck up so much of te salary cap while vested veterans get prorated vet minamums to do kamakazee jobs on special teams hoping they can break into more playing time. Those are the layers I feel sorry for. The qb’s make way too
Much money, especially mid level players like Cousins and Bradford while a guy like Le’veon Bell the best rb in the business can’t get a long term deal. Yes I get annoyed when certain players whine about their deal after we see on instagram how they are blowing their money on frivolous things, it’s just not relatable as many scrape to get by. It never even occurred to me that it was or has ever been about race. That is a helluva thing to even insinuate mike, you should be ashamed. Oh and happy Father’s Day, I hope that’s still the pc term to use, if not and I’ve offended anyone, my apologies.

“cardinealsfan20 says:
Neither you nor dvjh2 himself know the actual reason(s) why he did not get hired at that phone company. Perhaps, despite his apparent excellent credentials, he was applying for a position for which he was not suited. In fact, if many people with lesser credentials were being hired it appears he was overqualified for the position.”

There were many positions at multiple levels, but none for white males. This was 1989.
Multiple managers told me for many months that they were trying anything they could think of to get me hired on, but could not due to no openings for white males. They said they really didn’t want to lose me, but not only could they not hire me, they were also running out of ways to keep me as a contractor – and eventually did.
I suppose, from your view, those managers cannot be believed because they were white males. I’m not bitter about what happened, it was just a fact of how things worked then. I found a much better job, which was surprising. Some of us take responsibility and overcome, some blame everybody else.
Also, you said to give one example, and I did. Quotas ending in the 1990s is irrelevant to what you asked.
Before your next take is that I had many advantages growing up, I came from a small farm town in Wisconsin with a lot of alcohol abuse and drugs. My father beat the crap out of us daily. The town was very against education, and even I was against college but listened to school counselors and did it anyway. It was the hardest thing ever to go on to school when I already hated it and was taught that it was for lazy people. I got odd jobs and paid for all of it myself, and paid back student loans later.
Sorry for the rant, I’m just tired of the fake reality from the left.
My only advantages were being smart and having Lombardi as the Packers coach, where obstacles don’t matter, you overcome them.

I don’t think I’ve read a more blatantly misinformed article on the NFL. with more hate directed at its fans, than this one.

First of all, what evidence does the author give to support his theory that fans are against players who want more? There’s nothing here that constitutes concrete evidence of this.

Second, not all holdouts are the same, and it doesn’t take rocket scientist to figure this out. There are instances where players are underpaid and want a new contract, and in those instances, it has been my observation that fans will support players in that instance. However, expecting fans to support EVERY player who holds out is short-sighted and silly, and insinuates that in every instance the player is deserves the support of the fans.

Then there’s the insinuation that all owner are greedy billionaires who didn’t earn their money, and just sit back and look for ways to stick it to the players. I would expect such hatred from someone campaigning for political office, but not from someone writing NFL commentary. Some of these owners worked very hard and long for their fortunes, and have some inspirational stories to tell, if one can look past the hatred of their wealth long enough to ask about it.

Furthermore, the author implies that much of the anti-player sentiment (the he insists exists) is based on race. I cannot possibly think of a greater insult to the average white NFL fan than such a suggestion. I suspect the author of this article has talked absolutely no one outside of his own media circle before coming to such a conclusion.

In conclusion, it would be good for the author of this article (and others like him) to realize that NFL fans do not like being insulted like this. This article is garbage, and Mike Florio owes all NFL fans, especially the white ones, an apology for such prejudice against them. This article is disgraceful.

I’m a fan of Chief Wahoo and say hail to the Redskins, but I kneel due to the horrible stuff policemen do against black males. My partner Peter and I pulled our children out of church today because they brought up the kneeling thing and we all got emotional and ran out. Sometimes I hate being emotional and white.

Your fascination with my screen name is creepy. Otherwise, the interesting thing is that you never noticed the “e”, it had to be pointed out to you by another commenter. Of course, since then you’ve trotted it out at least five times to avoid giving legitimate answers.

aj66shanghai says:
June 17, 2018 at 6:12 pm
In the 1980s, despite having a Masters degree with a close to 4.0 GPA in Computer Science and (as a contractor) leading a project at a world-renowned phone company, I was not able to get hired on because I was white. Meanwhile, many minorities were being hired with 2-year non-engineering degrees and B averages. Because, you know, quotas made it fair. If anything, the minorities who were good were being hurt by those quotas because of the perception they were not hired based on merit. Eventually was let go and found a job somewhere else.

*********************

This is laughably full of lies. You had a job leading a project, but then you couldn’t get hired on, then you were let go? What?
And I suppose you knew who was being hired and what their qualifications were, because you were in the interview room? Maybe that’s why you were fired/not hired, because you were a stalker?

Most likely truth here is: you had a job with a company that had a lot of employees, including many minorities. You were a racist creep and fired because you couldn’t get along well with others.
______________________

dvhj2 – You seem to be a decent individual so I believe that is what you were told. And I’m a sucker for anyone who grew up in a small farm town.

My question wasn’t directed to you. It was directed at the guy who alleges that he is somehow oppressed as a white guy. Nevertheless, I enjoyed hearing your story. It is much interesting than the usual claptrap from the alt-right, Evangelical crowd.

Part of the problem is that contract payouts are never explained to fans which is why fans incorrectly believe these people are millionaires when most of them are not. You see all over the news the net worth of the contract and people automatically assume that they’re just handed a check for millions of dollars and not the reality that those contracts are spread out over several seasons paid in weekly installments, has stipulations they have to meet and can be voided at any point by the team. Not to mention that most rookies pay for their moves with NFL sponsored pay day loans which only ever gets talked about when players go into bankruptcy when they get cut well before the end of their contracts and can’t get picked up by another team.

The funny thing is the same people who call these guys spoiled millionaires are probably the same ones sympathizing with these same people when they were in college complaining how they have no money because they came from being dirt poor and their dorm is the nicest place they’ve ever lived.

Your average American can’t relate to having a job where people hit you every day and it’s acceptable to fire you just because they want someone younger so you must get as much as possible so that you can retire while you can still remember your name.

If you get defensive every time the word racist surfaces, some self-reflection might aid in determining the cause of your insecurity. Everyone should be true to themselves. If you are against civil rights, social justice, and equal rights, don’t look to people like me to coddle you, because that is never going to happen. Fly the flag (or sheet) that defines you. Be True To Yourself! It’s not complicated.

Your fascination with my screen name is creepy. Otherwise, the interesting thing is that you never noticed the “e”, it had to be pointed out to you by another commenter. Of course, since then you’ve trotted it out at least five times to avoid giving legitimate answers.

First of all Soccer sucks and I rather rub my eyes with a ghost pepper that watch that.
Second I have no problem with Mexicans. I have worked with them and have a few Mexican friends. I love tacos too but who doesn’t. I do not have a problem with legal immigration. I do have a problem with “illegal” immigration. The people who have the biggest problem with illegal immigration are the legal immigrants that had to do it the right way.
Third if you think Putin wanted Trump elected you are dumber than I thought.

And this post (mistakenly) precludes that if an owner had a scandal and lost his team and all his money that fans would take up a collection or something. No, no sympathy for owners either. You only hear non-sympathy for players bc it’s the players more often creating the news cycle due to their public complaints or actual holding out. You don’t see an owner putting themselves in the news cycle by holding out on their team bc he wants a guy to restructure his contract that he didn’t live up to.

First, in this age of the salary cap, there’s a fairly small range of payment or non-payment of players. To field a competitive team that sells tickets, owners have a comparably strong incentive to spend most of their salary cap, and success increases that.

Second, that salary cap means that money not spent on one player doesn’t go back to the owner so much as it goes to other players. So when one player angles for a big slice of the pie, others lose out.

Third, the way players express their “want for more” varies. If, say, an already-well-paid wide receiver or running back (to name two recent high-profile examples) who routinely practices me-first behavior threatens to hold out or balks at their already-large contract early on, it’s easy to see that as selfish and not being a team player. While another player who doesn’t act like a diva and works hard for the team elicits more sympathy.

Personally I don’t see much to the racist angle. Most fans, however otherwise crude and ignorant, have both black and white players they adore and support on their teams of choice.

Guys like OBJ and Le’Veon Bell are judged by the baggage of their past actions more than because they want more money.

The people who have the biggest problem with illegal immigration are the legal immigrants that had to do it the right way.

================

No, the people who have the biggest problem with illegal immigration are tiresome white guys who listen to too much talk radio and give themselves insipid political screen names.

Those are the types who shrug their shoulders at any degree of inhumanity if someone isn’t “legal”, casually smirking that they should have known better. Putting their politics before their humanity and decency.

Right or wrong fans take it pesonslly when a player says they don’t want to be part of the team unless they get paid more. The fans see them and the team like a family and the holdout is rejecting the family. These feelings of betrayal can be very high if the player is also disrespectful and sneering to the team (and by extension the fans) and making outrageous demands beyond what the market or cap will bear.

“This is laughably full of lies. You had a job leading a project, but then you couldn’t get hired on, then you were let go? What?
And I suppose you knew who was being hired and what their qualifications were, because you were in the interview room? Maybe that’s why you were fired/not hired, because you were a stalker?

Most likely truth here is: you had a job with a company that had a lot of employees, including many minorities. You were a racist creep and fired because you couldn’t get along well with others.”

If the managers lied to me, then yes, it is full of lies. All I can say is that I am telling the truth as they told it to me, and almost all other white male contractors were let go before I was. This kind of scenario was actually quite common in the 1980s. If you want to be right about something you had no involvement with, then go ahead and be right. It must be great for you to be right even when you know nothing about the topic.

Lawyers make 40% of their clients take. However, they’re not the injured party. So, should you not reimburse your clients? After all, they suffered more than you.

I’m all for players getting what they can. Yet, year two into a four year deal is not the right time to say you’re under paid because the market changed, and you think you’re better that the other guy.

Nobody is going to read this since I’m buried in the comments but my belief is that if owners were required to show what they made each year compared to the players, that there would be more sympathy. As of right now, nobody really knows how much Jerry Jones or Robert Kraft make each year. I would love for a politician to say, if you take public money, NFL owner you are required to open your books to the public.

Overpaid crybabies. Whaaa, I bumped my head , whaaa we practice too much , whaaa the coach yelled at me , whaaA, training camp is to rough. whaaa, I dont want to stand for the Anthem. Whaaa, I only make 5 million WHAAA!! The average Joe who works 10 hours a day just cant relate and their is resentment. And yes , I’m one of those average Joes.

orndorf2 says:
June 17, 2018 at 12:59 pm
Football fans for the most part are meatheads that support the owners. They aren’t the sharpest knives in the drawer and will demonstrate it as they comment on this article. That’s why.

———

Football fans for the most part are hard working people that like to sit down on a Sunday afternoon and watch a game. Most of us are not meatheads and probably don’t give a rat’s butt about the owners. Noticed that you commented on this article.

No, what you have a problem with is allowing sick children access to a doctor. After all, they’ll probably feel better after being shipped back to “their” country. How does it feel to take joy from human suffering?

Only in the minds of white supremacists. Tell us please of one, just one, incidence of prejudice against you as a white guy.
—————-
So you actually believe Blacks are not prejudice against white’s? I can tell you first hand that I have been treat as not an equal by Blacks. Where I worked the majority were black, they acted as if I did not exist socially…try again and think before you say of which you do not know…

Please stop with the race card crap. Racist aren’t fans of sports because at least 80% of the players are minority and racists stopped watching the game long ago.Pre intergation of the sport, people grumbled about players money because they “played a game” And they didn’t make a fraction of what they make today. Finally with a salary cap, a whale at the top would gobble up a lot of the alloted team money, making it hard to assemble a SB capable run. See, it isn’t hard to make argument without stirring up racial hatred. It does, however take talent.

Yes, I’m an illegal and yes, I will volunteer to go back to my country. Illegal is illegal and my family and I are in the WRONG and I apologize to all the hard-working Americans who are legal. President Trump is finally cleaning up this country! I’ll see you all when I go through legal channels to become a true American! Hail to the Redskins.

====================================================
omegalh says:
June 17, 2018 at 6:32 pm
Whenever the 99% can take from the 1%, cheer it. That is capitalism. PS – Almost all of these athletes started in 99%.
=====================================================

I’m sure a lot of the noise in the comments here comes from billionaire-funded septic tanks whose mission it is to keep dumb people voting against their own self-interest. Racism is the best card in their hand (for their purposes). Racism sells.

This sentiment isn’t new. The majority of fans are self-serving and selfish. They hate anything that they perceive gets in the way of a successful season. They don’t care about injury concerns, or fair pay, or any of the other things that would suggest any sense of humanity. If the front office hates it, they hate it. Their concerns can, literally, be boiled down to that. These aren’t sophisticated considerations at all…

Not all white fans are envious of the success of people ofd color in the NFL. That said it must be recognized that the average NFL career is only a few years and that career could end anytime they step onto the field. Players who do manage to retire often do so with lingering injuries that stay with them the rest of their lives. CTE is a continual threat. Now look at the owners – the trend is to get public (taxpayer) money to fund a large proportion of new stadiums so the owners actual investment there is subsidized, they successfully negotiated a tiered salary/contract system for drafted players, saving them millions against the contracts for early round draftees. In the overall salary picture for the NFL, players receive @47% of revenue as compared to 51% for NBA players and 50% for NHL players. NFL owners take advantage of players, fans, and taxpayers.

Some (many) white fans surely resent (consciously or not) the fact that African-American men parlay God-given physical skills into the kind of money and fame that the average white person never will enjoy, no matter how hard he or she works.
————————————————————————————————-

and if the so called average white person didn’t pay outrageous prices to see a game,, these so called football players wouldn’t make the kind of money they do!!!

Again for all the “when you sign a contract you honor it” guys here. The Owners don’t honor the contract they sign so why should the players only do this? Players get what you can you window closes fast.

Seinfeld put it best people cheer for a piece of cloth. You cheer for team from your town or dad cheered for. who is wearing the cloth is meaningless to most. the people who complain most about athletes salaries are the ones if it was their kid. They would make as much as possible no home town discount.

In all honesty, every fan wants their team to win the Super Bowl. But look what happens when players lobby for huge contracts because theyre talented.

Look at Seattle as an example. You pay a few guys a ton of money, and you end up with a 53 man roster, with very few guys taking up 60% of the salary cap. You have 22 starters. You cant pay all of them whatever they want.

Guys like Leveon Bell are amazing to watch, but the guy wants twice what the highest paid back in the league is getting. Seriously? I understand you feel like the best in the game, but what he is asking, is basically costing the Steelers 2-3 decent starters salary. With 2 or 3 more decent starters, the Steelers are in the AFCCG, not sitting at home in January.

This is also why I don’t want the Eagles giving Jay Ajayi a ton of money. I would rather have good players making a decent salary, instead of a few fantastic starters taking up the whole cap.

In all reality, I shouldn’t have to care what players make. I have no stake in the team, or their profits. And we all know the shelf life of an NFL player. But in the end, my team comes before my favorite player. I sure hope I don’t come to resent Carson Wentz if he wants $30 mill a year. Because if Jimmy G is worth his contract, and Kirk Cousins is worth $25, thats what Carson Wentz is worth on the open market. If he can take a bit less, he will retire with multiple MVPs, and a few trophies of his own. And that’s what every fan wants. To see success of their team.

SBLIIChampionEagles says:
June 18, 2018 at 6:29 am
Because if Jimmy G is worth his contract, and Kirk Cousins is worth $25, thats what Carson Wentz is worth on the open market. If he can take a bit less, he will retire with multiple MVPs, and a few trophies of his own. And that’s what every fan wants. To see success of their team.

——-

Or more likely Wentz could end up with zero SBs, zero MVPs and be seen as Andy Dalton 2.1. But at least the Eagles were smart and kept Foles.

Football players are modern day gladiators and we’re the screaming Romans in the stands. They put life and limb on the line for OUR entertainment and yet we begrudge them making all they can during their very short careers. The “contracts” are not worth the paper they’re written on. The owners can and do break them all of the time. I’m all for the players getting all they can, while they can.

This is easy to give a direct response to. I’ve dealt with this at my own employment where we’re unionized and have a contract with our employer. This topic has nothing to do with the income or money generated by our employer. They’re the boss, they own the company and we all know that life isn’t fair. We have a choice, and that’s to either work for them or not. Nobody is forcing anyone to work anywhere !

With that being said, once you sign a contract with your employer, you should honor that contract. It’s that plain and simple. You agreed to a contract, you signed, and yesterday that contract was soo good for you in your eyes and by the eyes of your lawyer and your agent, etc., that you happily signed it and probably cashed that signing bonus so fast !

Now, today, you feel like you want more. Well you didn’t feel that way yesterday. And any honorable person who put their name on a contract, would honor said contract. If you wanted extra bargaining rights, etc., you should of put it into the contract.

At my employment, we’ve battled our employers for finding loopholes or for flat our wiping their butts with our contract and we have to take them to court. If they just honored our contract as it’s written, the spirit of the contract, then all is well. We’ve had to, over time, adjust the wording in our contract, so that our employer couldn’t use old loop holes to screw with us.

I’m sorry, but you signed the contract, you agreed to it, now honor it. How much money the owners make, the players make, etc., quite frankly, isn’t the fans business. It just isn’t. I like to know because I like the chess that’s involved during the offseason with the salary cap, and the game of who do you sign and who do you cut, trade, etc., it’s fun as a fan.

But the bottom line is plain and simple, you signed, you agreed, you legally bound yourself to a contract. It is what it is. I’m sorry, but the player is wrong for challenging a contract and acting like a big baby, because 2 years after signing, the league is now paying a lot more money for a skilled player of that person’s position.

This is why us blue-collared fans get upset. We put our big boy pants on everyday and work our jobs for our wages agreed upon in our contracts, union or individual, and when the contract expires, we negotiate things we want and have to entertain things the employer wants.

Nobody forced anybody to sign their name and nobody is forcing anybody from quitting and walking away !

Guys like Leveon Bell are amazing to watch, but the guy wants twice what the highest paid back in the league is getting. Seriously? I understand you feel like the best in the game, but what he is asking, is basically costing the Steelers 2-3 decent starters salary.

———————
This is true and a complication will be that if the Steelers give it to him the rest of the players dont sit back and say ‘well yeah, he is best in the game and is so much better than the rest of us that he should be paid that much more than the rest of us.” Instead they say “if he gets that kind of money I want that kind of money”. The next guy that says they want to become the highest paid RB in the game points to the current highest contrat, and the guy after him and the guy after that. Each contract becomes the new baseline for the next guy to beat. So giving Bell that contract jumps the cap percentage for the RB position not just for the Steelers but for the entire league.

nhpats says:
June 18, 2018 at 8:46 am
SBLIIChampionEagles says:
June 18, 2018 at 6:29 am
Because if Jimmy G is worth his contract, and Kirk Cousins is worth $25, thats what Carson Wentz is worth on the open market. If he can take a bit less, he will retire with multiple MVPs, and a few trophies of his own. And that’s what every fan wants. To see success of their team.

——-

Or more likely Wentz could end up with zero SBs, zero MVPs and be seen as Andy Dalton 2.1. But at least the Eagles were smart and kept Foles.

————————
I think that was his point though. He is saying that if Wentz turns this into 30+ million of cap space a year he will wind up as you say. But if he can be happy taking a more modest (but still highly lucrative) percentage of the cap and let his team use that extra space to build around him he might be able to head up a nice little dynasty run.

Been said. Basically I don’t care about either side. Well, one of the first to inspire this debate, the “14 million per year is an insult, I’ve got a family to feed,” Latrell Spreewell (sp?), was polarizing. Aren’t the more important concerns that deserve our attention as fans are: teams asking for and receiving tax breaks to build stadiums, at our expense, PSLs that are portrayed as fan friendly, but clearly are not, the (re) scheduling of games to nighttime hours in the northeast during cold weather months, outrageous prices for stadium food and drink, inflated cable tv bills, etc. Feel free to add on. Who really cares whose pockets are being filled. It’s our dollars that are filling both sides of this “debate.”

It’s because of the salary cap. If the salaries of star players had zero effect on the quality of the rest of the team around them then no fan of that player or team would even remotely care how much they want.

Not saying abolishment of the salary cap is a good idea but it is clearly the main reason fans don’t support the salary demands of many players, regardless of how much they may or may not deserve it.

I think there’s more pressure on players who come from poorer backgrounds. Everybody in their family and their close friends wants a piece of their action. I remember Jeremiah Trotter saying on his radio show a while back about being drafted in 1998. He was with his family waiting for the call and when the Eagles drafted him in the third round, his young niece jumped up screaming, “WE RICH! WE RICH!” and Jeremiah was thinking, “What’s this WE? I’M not even rich.” Lol

SourGrapes says:
June 18, 2018 at 4:41 pm
It’s because of the salary cap. If the salaries of star players had zero effect on the quality of the rest of the team around them then no fan of that player or team would even remotely care how much they want.

Not saying abolishment of the salary cap is a good idea but it is clearly the main reason fans don’t support the salary demands of many players, regardless of how much they may or may not deserve it.
___________________________

The reason fans “side with the owners” (it’s not really siding with them, it just so happens that our interests fall in line) is because we want our team to succeed.

When a player holds out, it has a detrimental effect on their ability to be ready for the upcoming season. This has a negative impact on the team, and ultimately puts the win/loss ratio in jeopardy.

We want our team in the playoffs. We want our team in the superbowl. We want our team to WIN the superbowl.

Each of those things becomes less likely with each player that holds out.

The money aspect of it doesn’t even compute with most of us…We don’t know what being a millionaire is like and would not understand the difference between having millions of dollars and billions of dollars.

Not everything is political or racial. I just want to watch my team win on sunday.

in 1988 tickets to the NFC Championship Game at RFK Stadium cost $35, and the regular season price was $20. Today, comparable tickets (though they’re actually MUCH further from the field) to a REGULAR SEASON game at FedExField cost $93. Add to that an exorbitant parking fee and concessions that are through the literal roof, plus a truly horrible gameday experience and it adds up.

“Why, given all that is now known about the risks of a career in professional football, do fans continue to complain when a player hopes to receive greater compensation for the risks he assumes and the sacrifices he makes?”

1. He signed a contract, a contract which nobody forced him to sign.
2. If his market value is truly larger than his current salary, holding out might be his only path to close that gap NOW, we understand this.
3. Holding out hurts the team. Fans cheer for team success. Holding out hurts the fans’ goal.
4. The players need to negotiate a better reconciliation process for contracts that are nowhere near the value of the player they are attached to. (Too high or too low)
5. The argument about players earning less than the owners doesn’t prove any point; the owners have capital tied up in the team, while the players aren’t risking anything financially. Alternatively, the players’ next best alternative for earning money is likely to be far, far lower than playing football, while the owners stand a chance to actually earn a higher return by investing their money elsewhere.

spartanlegend says: June 17, 2018 at 1:08 pm
It’s racism. Plain and simple. It’s so blatantly obvious that lots of the posters here are closet racist who hate the fact that black people are making way more money than they ever will. This is 100% true even though you’re obviously never going to hear them admit it.
—-
Looks like just about everything on this earth is racism to you.. When all you got is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

Most of America believes that a contract should be honored unless it is found to be fraudulent. That is why so many people are angry with Facebook. They knew that Facebook was getting something in return for the free use of their social media site but subscribers didn’t realize how far down the rabbit hole Facebook had gone. Pro football players are millionaires that hire sports agents whose business it is to forge really good contracts. A player who signs a bad deal is the victim of bad advice from his agent, not fraud. Holding out when contracts are being negotiated is well within the legitimate bargaining process. However, refusing to honor a contract purely because you want more cash NOW is just another illustration of poor ethics. Another illustration of why “social justice” is a farce in the NFL.

It gets old that the liberal media put out that all whites are racist rant. You can say all blacks are racist too.The media isn’t interested in the truth anymore the world comes in all shades of gray and you just can’t put out a blanket statement like that. Whites don’t see themselves as one race. They go by irish, english, german, etc.–American. Just calling “whites” racist doesn’t mean that Blacks aren’t racist too. They over-play the race card to the point that a lot people really don’t care. As long as the media keeps trying to stir up the race issue just for headlines and hits on sites nothing will change and the media/politicians don’t want it to change because there is more money in division than with coming together.

Everybody is not racist, and nobody is pushing the narrative that everybody is racist. It’s just the people who usually make it a point to act like it doesn’t exist are generally racist. Now with that being said, there’s no doubt that there’s huge contingency of people who hate the idea of a black man making more money than them.

Its true that in reality fans are “rooting for laundry”, but I think part of fans’ distaste for holdouts and the like is that it usually breaks up the team continuity. Its more fun rooting for players you “know” and who are playing for the team you like over a number of years. Holdouts often find themselves on new teams eventually, or if they do get a new contract, they often push out other players who the team can no longer afford which can effect how many games they win. But players obviously have every right to seek out the best situation. I know I would. But even in non-salary cap sports like baseball, it still feels more fun as a fan to watch a new young player get called up and develop into a long-time allstar with your team than to sign or trade for a big money free player. There’s less of a connection to the player when its done that way, but obviously it works. Not many Pats fans would call Darelle Revis their all time favorite Patriot, but he showed up, produced and then quickly moved on. Can’t deny the results.

It teaches people that the agreement to do a job does not matter. If you’re unhappy with your pay (which you agreed on) you can just sit back and do nothing. I hope their waiters and checkout cashiers adopt this same attitude the next time they are in getting a meal or shopping and then their “customer service associate” tells them, “Sorry, I’m not doing my job that I agreed on until they pay me more”.
Finish out your contracts with honor, prove that you’re worth more, and then when you get signed again, THEN ask for more money. Simple as that.

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It doesn’t really work that way in professional sports. The window of opportunity is very small and the talent pool is small. The players, especially the stars who also are the most likely to holdout, have leverage as they themselves are the product. If your good at something that is in demand and not many other people are good at, why not try to maximize it? The players have a tiny window to take advantage and know they can get hurt and have their contract ripped up at any time. But with the salary cap, and the tiered draft rookie contracts, they can’t break out of their deals for several years. And yet the average career is only a few years. It makes all the sense in the world and is 100% justified that a player would holdout especially when it can all be taken away in an instant.

Because people see that players are asking for more than they objectively deserve. The “wealth differential” between players and owners is irrelevant because the players are not the ones spending the money to make the money, nor is it the players who are paying the salaries of his teammates, coaches, etc. And there is no racial component. The reality is Odell Beckham has been a woefully overrated player who didn’t take his role seriously enough before his one playoff game to date – it’s why he should be “lowballed” and why he needs to grow up.